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S05:E03 - Castle Sweet Castle


Jeric

Did you like it?  

278 users have voted

  1. 1. Did you like it?

    • No, I hated it! >:(
      3
    • I didn't like it.
      10
    • Meh. It was okay.
      49
    • I liked it!
      111
    • I LOVED IT! <3
      103


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Overall, this episode was okay - not bad, but not really great either. The plot was rather predictable, and the middle part of the episode dragged on a bit too long, while the final solution and Twilight's reaction to it felt a bit rushed. But Twilight's dilemma is understandable, and the solution the Mane Six came up was actually somewhat of a surprise.

 

In the first part of the episode, Twilight doesn't want to go back to the castle because it doesn't feel like home, but I don't see why not wanting to go back to the castle would translate into Twilight finding (and even making) more chores to do. Couldn't she have tried to spend time away from the castle doing something fun or just hanging out with her friends, rather than always doing work? (Although, to be fair, maybe her races with Rainbow Dash could be considered a "fun" activity, albeit an exhausting one.) Also, is the castle not feeling like home really so bad that Twilight is willing to avoid sleeping and bathing? I might think that, at some point, going around dirty and dead tired (while helping with the others' chores) would feel worse than going to the castle that doesn't feel like home, even if just to get clean and sleep.

 

Thinking about the initial ways that the Mane Six tried to make the castle feel like "home", I personally wouldn't care for most of them. Some of the Mane Six's ideas would be actively annoying - especially the animals running around, the dirt and bales of hay inside, and the confetti cannons - and the rest I probably wouldn't end up paying much (if any) attention to. To be fair, though, the things the Mane Six did to individual rooms in the end would be more enjoyable, or at minimum, not be annoying (e.g. having stuffed animals in her bedroom and not real animals). If I were in Twilight's position, I probably wouldn't buy into the idea that decorations would make a house feel more like "home" in the first place. My house has essentially no decorations and a minimum of furniture, but I guess my not having a use for decorations, knick-knacks, etc. is just part of my personality. 

 

Obviously one of the central subplots of the episode was Spike trying to find various ways to stall Twilight without letting her know that the castle isn't ready yet. But what would be the problem with Spike just telling Twilight that the Mane Six aren't done decorating yet and need more time? After all, the fact that the Mane Six are decorating the castle is not the surprise, but rather, what the decorations end up being. Do Spike and the rest of the Mane Six think that Twilight will get upset or think less of them if they take too long?

 

While I will admit that I wasn't expecting the Mane Six's main decoration to be the dug-up roots of the Golden Oak Library, suspended like a chandelier with crystals containing pictures of old memories hanging off of it, I still have a few questions about the logistics of it. First, how did Applejack and Fluttershy (and her animal friends) manage to dig up, clean off, and hang up the giant root system of the library before dark, especially considering that it was pretty close to sunset when they started? Also, the crystals contain pictures of old memories, but is the only way to see the pictures to fly up and view the crystals from the right angle? That might seem a little inconvenient to do over and over again. Finally, I couldn't help noticing that, even though all the crystals are clearly suspended far off the ground, we see Pinkie's hoof holding one of the crystals as she describes a memory inside - how is she doing that?

 

Finally, as a bit of an aside, Pinkie's stupid antics are back in this episode. A big one is how one of Pinkie's pancakes contains a measuring spoon which she "lost in the batter". First, if Pinkie dropped a measuring spoon in the batter, why wouldn't she remove it, rather than shrugging her shoulders and just continuing to cook? But also, how would a measuring spoon be "lost" inside a pancake? Why wouldn't it have been seen in the process of cooking the pancakes, or at the very least, in the final product? It's not like pancakes can normally be made to be 2 inches thick, such that you wouldn't see a measuring spoon sticking out.

 

Also, Pinkie hides confetti cannons around the castle, but then, no more than a few hours after doing so, has apparently forgotten where she put them, and doesn't try to do anything about them, even as they're causing trouble. At the end of the episode, she says "It's not my fault I hid them so well", but it is precisely her fault, and she apparently isn't even going to try to help in removing them.

 

Finally, when Fluttershy's animals are running around and making a mess of the castle (after being disturbed by one of Pinkie's confetti cannons), Pinkie takes that as a cue to do the same. Does Pinkie not care about making the castle a mess, or helping to stop the animals from doing so? I guess, yet again, I'm expecting too much maturity from Pinkie.

 

Now for a few more miscellaneous observations:

 

At the beginning of the episode, what did all of Fluttershy's animals do to get so muddy in the first place? Is it really worthwhile to clean all the animals so thoroughly, anyway? Do they all live in Fluttershy's house, and thus need to be clean?

 

Twilight digging 50 holes for planting trees when Applejack only needed 10 would seem to go beyond extra-helpful to actually being unhelpful - either Applejack would need to plant more trees than she wanted to, or would have to fill the extra holes back in, with the ground having been disturbed unnecessarily.

 

When Twilight is rearranging the gem drawer at the Boutique, by what criteria is she organizing the gems, especially since there are only 12 gems in the drawer to start with?

 

Does Spike really get his claws done at the spa? Why do so many of the characters go to the spa, and with such frequency? It just seems strange to me, since I'm not aware of anyone I know going to a spa, let alone going to one regularly. Wouldn't that get kind of expensive and maybe not be worth it when done too frequently?

 

Why do all the animals (and Pinkie) actually stop when Rarity yells at them to? Weren't they all just disturbed by the loud, sudden noise of the confetti cannon going off? Do all the animals understand Rarity when she's talking? It might appear that way, since apparently the chipmunks (or whatever animals they are) crawling up the curtains obeyed Rarity when she told them specifically to stop earlier.

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i was a bit surprised they pushed in 2 songs in the episode and also it almost kinda reminded me of the spongebob episode but the difference was they actually realized it was awful at the start but overall it was an a ok :)

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did anypony else figure out that there are 94 gems on the chandelier? one for each episode so far.  :icwudt:

 

That's an interesting idea, I hadn't thought to count the number of gems in the chandelier. I counted 103 gems hanging off the chandelier, though, at least from the shot of the chandelier we get in the episode.

 

post-7304-0-90151900-1428873931_thumb.png

Edited by Music Chart Fan
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When Twilight is rearranging the gem drawer at the Boutique, by what criteria is she organizing the gems, especially since there are only 12 gems in the drawer to start with?

 

I think you're missing the point. Organization, even to Twilight, wasn't the issue. Twilight likely wasn't sorting them by any logic at all, just making up excuses to stay longer. There wasn't any criteria.. if I'm honest, I don't even think she was actually organizing them--maybe she was at first, but after that I think she just kept switching them to stall.

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did anypony else figure out that there are 94 gems on the chandelier? one for each episode so far. :icwudt:

Wow, really?

If that's true, let's hope there'll be one more in each new episode.

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Twilight digging 50 holes for planting trees when Applejack only needed 10 would seem to go beyond extra-helpful to actually being unhelpful - either Applejack would need to plant more trees than she wanted to, or would have to fill the extra holes back in, with the ground having been disturbed unnecessarily.
About the trees, maybe Twilight stayed even longer to fill in the holes? Screwing up a job and redoing it eats up time. Also some massage places are cheap enough to go regularly.  
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I think my only problem with this episode was the song.

 

It wasnt bad... Just unnecessary.

 

I think it would have been a deeper story had it been more direct dialogue.

 

To me, it took up space and made the end result feel rushed

 

They put all that stuff in, then took it all back out only for the sake of the song when only it only would have taken one pony 10 seconds to just stop and think about it right from the get go.

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I forget what person I had this conversation with, I think it was just general consensus with you ponies that both the library and the caslte was the same size but...

 

I TOLD YA!

 

It IS a real castle and is far larger than the previous home!

 

The shots of the interior prove its far larger. I mean, they pointed out that it had Massively sized big empty echoing halls with more than dozens of rooms. Where as her last house was to what I saw, basically a couple of rooms with one big room in the center and a basement. Twilights biggest room looks nothing compared to what we saw in this episode.

 

She has an official massive...or normal, sized castle!


I forget what person I had this conversation with, I think it was just general consensus with you ponies that both the library and the caslte was the same size but...

 

I TOLD YA!

 

It IS a real castle and is far larger than the previous home!

 

The shots of the interior prove its far larger. I mean, they pointed out that it had Massively sized big empty echoing halls with more than dozens of rooms. Where as her last house was to what I saw, basically a couple of rooms with one big room in the center and a basement. Twilights biggest room looks nothing compared to what we saw in this episode.

 

She has an official massive...or normal, sized castle!

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Solid episode, but I wanted to bawl over the treehouse.  It felt that Twily & Spike's emotions were rushed too much for my tastes.

 

The plot seemed a bit forced.  "You girls know so much about me"  -- which the natural response is; Yeah whatever Twilight, I'm saying who cares what you think of as comfortable and we'll make ourselves comfortable. 

Ignoring those two points I have only one more [two-part] complaint.

 

The Tree Chandelier was . . . nice.  I can understand how Twily could like it, but it seemed kinda lacking to me.  The whole place felt mostly empty but they had the chandelier.  No mention of books as decorations whatsoever, which would have been natural for Twily.

 

As I started saying it WAS solid.  The song was a fine way to deal with a montage, the 5 were to character, and Spike really shined for once.  In some ways it's one of the best Spike episodes, really showing his sacrificing for Twilight without making him seem flanderized or incompetent.   The funny parts were laugh out loud and there was some real pathos, and I just have to go back to watching other episodes if I want to bawl rather than merely tear up.

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I wonder what else they will do to the castle in the future?

 

If I was them, I would at least start filling it with book cases, Carpets or at least something to help absorb the sound so it does not echo. Heck, even wall drapes like what the other castles have or asking the other princesses for donations for decoration and sound absorbing would be a great idea.

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I wonder what else they will do to the castle in the future?

 

If I was them, I would at least start filling it with book cases, Carpets or at least something to help absorb the sound so it does not echo. Heck, even wall drapes like what the other castles have or asking the other princesses for donations for decoration and sound absorbing would be a great idea.

They did mention there is a library. I know not many consider it canon, but moving books into the library was mentioned in "Rainbow Rocks". I am also hoping against hope we'll get to see Twilight's laboratory. 

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Great episode.  Loved, loved, LOVED it!

 

The castle is something they definitely needed to deal with.  It was the only aspect of Twi's Kingdom that I felt a bit iffy about, as in I wasn't sure if it was a good move.  I was worried that they might just gloss over it, and not do anything to have her properly adjust to her new home.  I'm really pleased that they did this episode.  I loved the fact that Twilight didn't immediately feel comfortable in the castle.  She's hasn't been immediately comfortable with any of this: her wings, her title, the castle, all of it.  It's been a slow adjustment for her, and she's still working on it.  That's how it should be.  The writer's have handled her well, and kept her true to her character.

 

Twilight and Spike, as well as us, needed to grieve for the old library.  I, for one, am really going to miss the place.  I'm glad they visited the ruins.  We needed closure.  And I thought that the solution for making the new place feel more like home was a good one.  And there was a great message there, as well.  In life, people are often uprooted and have to move.  Sometimes it's by choice, sometimes it's forced.  But it's never easy, and leaving home can be very sad, and it takes time for a new place to feel like home, even if it's what you wanted.  Making new memories is a great message.

 

I was happy to see the other five working together, and having a very solid song that didn't feature Twilight at all.  I've always been a defender of Princess Twilight, but I thought this episode was a good answer to everybrony who says that it has just become the Twilight Show.  I know that someone might just argue that it doesn't help anything, that the only reason the other five were there was to be accessories to Twilight, but I disagree.  I thought this episode helped to show that they are all important.  If your best friend's house burned down, wouldn't you be there to help them rebuild or decorate a new place?  And Twilight has always been the leader, after all.  It's been that way since day 1, and there's nothing wrong with that.

 

This episode has some hilarious lines as well.  Pinkie's remark, "Remember the time the library was blown to smithereens?" was great.

But my favorite line:

Rarity: "I don't understand what went wrong!  I just did the same thing I would do in my own home."

RD: "But this isn't your home.  It's Twilight's home!"

Rarity: "You mean where she keeps all her Rainbow Dash trophies?"

 

Omg, that was hysterical.  My mom and I were cracking up.

 

I also liked that we got an oh-so-rare glimpse of Rainbow's house in Cloudsdale.  That's always a welcome treat.  But I think the best part of the episode was Spike's Rarity plushie.  I kind of did a little bit of a fanboy flip-out at that.  Hilarious.

 

My only quibble is that I wanted to see the other rooms!  They tease us with mentioning the country kitchen, the Daring library, and the cozy bedroom, and then don't show them!  What gives?  I hope we see them soon.  But all in all, great episode.

 

The Tree Chandelier was . . . nice.  I can understand how Twily could like it, but it seemed kinda lacking to me.  The whole place felt mostly empty but they had the chandelier.  No mention of books as decorations whatsoever, which would have been natural for Twily.

I will agree with that.  After they went on and on about how important the books were...and then we don't see a single book.  But she doesn't need to have books in every room.  I just wanted to see the library, like I said.

Edited by Justin_Case001
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I feel rather mixed about this episode...

 

I don't know it was rather meh in my opinion and I did not really like it too much. I did like the reminiscing of past memories but that's really it. The rest of the episode did not do much for me.

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I had to caption this screen capture after your post. This is what passes for humor with me!

 

img-3663409-1-animals.jpg

Works for me as well, that is quite funny.

There was no need for a song in this episode. Come to think of it. There's no need for songs in any episodes,unless it's a musical.

B-but, songs ;-;

 

Also Luna's singing voice. She needs to sing more.

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I understand how Twilight felt, really. My parents just redecorated the entire house and it really doesn't feel like home anymore. I liked the song and I liked how the episode was resolved. Overall, I think it was a very good episode, tying in the story with slice-of-life elements.

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My first time watching through, the episode had underwhelmed me tremendously. It felt short, emotionless, and weak. I figured this may be due to my expectations coming out of last week's spectacularly done episode, so I watched it a second time...


 


I loved it and think this is one of the best episodes from the show.  :pinkie:


 


The characterization was spot-on, with the characters acting like themselves instead of caricatures exaggerating their most prominent trait. Pinkie Pie got me to laugh several times this episode ("Remember the time it got blown up to smithereens?!"   :lol: ) and Spike was treated exceptionally better than usual too like he deserves  :mustache: (love the Rarity plushie that I think Fluttershy might have made based on her "freaky knowledge" of sewing and her obsession for yarn--also I would think she made Twilight's stuffed animals too   ;) ). 


 


I am very thankful that Twilight hasn't gotten the "infallibility treatment" after her appointment to the throne and this episode seems to have calcified that this is how things are going to be. Bulk Biceps was a highlight too and the role of masseuse he was given fits him so well.


 


The ReMane-ing 5 (saw this somewhere on mlpforums), though acting through a cliche plotline, had their personalities shine through and the song "Make This Castle a Home" was very refreshing and uplifting. I am so glad that they ended up solving their own problem together without the need of Twilight, showing that not only have they each individually matured but that the bond between each of them has strengthened as well. And the way it started out with them talking about the books in the Golden Oak Library almost made me fearful they were just going to put a bunch of books everywhere in the castle. I think the reason Twilight didn't have such a hard time leaving her place at Canterlot for her is because Golden Oak was familiar to her since it was a library. But now she and the ReMane-ing 5 realized that you don't "feel" home because of material possessions but instead because of the memories you keep there. (Wait, first the show is "anti-communist" and now it's "anti-materialist"?  :muffins: Just kidding.)


 


The little argumentation scene also shows me how good their friendship is because as they say, you know who your true friends are after you have made them angry. 


 


The theme of the episode was also mature and appropriate. It didn't deal with loss in a more somber way as I had expected, with Twilight (and Spike--like Twilight I complete forgot that he that he must have felt heartache too after the Golden Oak Library's destruction) nostalgically reminiscing over the past and mourning. It dealt it in a hopeful, uplifting way like the spirit of the song and the end of the episode. And I'm like how Twilight's way of mourning "fits" her personality--reserved and contemplative. 


 


I admit it, the end got me to cry the second time I watched through. It wasn't all-out sappy as you'd expect, but instead was a subtle and reserved, yet poignant scene.


 


The Mane 6 talking about their old memories as the roots of the Library overhung, serving as an obvious but good symbol for Twilight's "roots" in Ponyville, made me feel that they really are true friends who care for each other deeply. It was great that they ended off with one of Pinkie's antics as opposed to the cliched hug, because it's been sort of tiresome seeing them hug all the time, like it's meant to be a meaningful resolution. For me, seeing them doing something together feels like a better conclusion because that feels more "real".


 


BUT one thing I don't understand. What's with RD's lines in the song?   :dash:


"How could anypony awesome ever ask for more?" and "How could anypony awesome ever ask for more than that?"


 


Don't get me wrong. I loved her part, but I think I'm just dumb or something because I can't get it.  :derp: I don't understand what it means so if you do, please tell me.  :confused: (My guess: Twilight is awesome and Rainbow Dash is complimenting herself on giving Twilight the best things she has? I don't know...)


 


Or is Rainbow Dash just supposed to have weird, recurring season 5 moments like that animation error from the first part of "The Cutie Map"?   B)


 


EDIT: One of my friends on here explained it to me, so no need for the explanation now. Thanks!  :please:


Edited by estoc
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GREAT episode! 
1. Angel being a moody bunny again xD
2. BULK BICEPS is a masseuse XD and pick Spike up with his biceps
3. Though predictable when Twi's friends get their favorite things for the castle it was still funny to see them fight over the clutter afterwards

4. The end with the tree root chandelier with the diamond memories (I want something like that lol)
5. I believe this is the first episode where Celestia isn't mentioned at all 


 

My first time watching through, the episode had underwhelmed me tremendously. It felt short, emotionless, and weak. I figured this may be due to my expectations coming out of last week's spectacularly done episode, so I watched it a second time...

 

I loved it and think this is one of the best episodes from the show.  :pinkie:

 

The characterization was spot-on, with the characters acting like themselves instead of caricatures exaggerating their most prominent trait. Pinkie Pie got me to laugh several times this episode ("Remember the time it got blown up to smithereens?!"   :lol: ) and Spike was treated exceptionally better than usual too like he deserves  :mustache: (love the Rarity plushie that I think Fluttershy might have made based on her "freaky knowledge" of sewing and her obsession for yarn--also I would think she made Twilight's stuffed animals too   ;) ). 

 

I am very thankful that Twilight hasn't gotten the "infallibility treatment" after her appointment to the throne and this episode seems to have calcified that this is how things are going to be. Bulk Biceps was a highlight too and the role of masseuse he was given fits him so well.

 

The ReMane-ing 5 (saw this somewhere on mlpforums), though acting through a cliche plotline, had their personalities shine through and the song "Make This Castle a Home" was very refreshing and uplifting. I am so glad that they ended up solving their own problem together without the need of Twilight, showing that not only have they each individually matured but that the bond between each of them has strengthened as well. And the way it started out with them talking about the books in the Golden Oak Library almost made me fearful they were just going to put a bunch of books everywhere in the castle. I think the reason Twilight didn't have such a hard time leaving her place at Canterlot for her is because Golden Oak was familiar to her since it was a library. But now she and the ReMane-ing 5 realized that you don't "feel" home because of material possessions but instead because of the memories you keep there. (Wait, first the show is "anti-communist" and now it's "anti-materialist"?  :muffins: Just kidding.)

 

The little argumentation scene also shows me how good their friendship is because as they say, you know who your true friends are after you have made them angry. 

 

The theme of the episode was also mature and appropriate. It didn't deal with loss in a more somber way as I had expected, with Twilight (and Spike--like Twilight I complete forgot that he that he must have felt heartache too after the Golden Oak Library's destruction) nostalgically reminiscing over the past and mourning. It dealt it in a hopeful, uplifting way like the spirit of the song and the end of the episode. And I'm like how Twilight's way of mourning "fits" her personality--reserved and contemplative. 

 

I admit it, the end got me to cry the second time I watched through. It wasn't all-out sappy as you'd expect, but instead was a subtle and reserved, yet poignant scene.

 

The Mane 6 talking about their old memories as the roots of the Library overhung, serving as an obvious but good symbol for Twilight's "roots" in Ponyville, made me feel that they really are true friends who care for each other deeply. It was great that they ended off with one of Pinkie's antics as opposed to the cliched hug, because it's been sort of tiresome seeing them hug all the time, like it's meant to be a meaningful resolution. For me, seeing them doing something together feels like a better conclusion because that feels more "real".

 

BUT one thing I don't understand. What's with RD's lines in the song?   :dash:

"How could anypony awesome ever ask for more?" and "How could anypony awesome ever ask for more than that?"

 

Don't get me wrong. I loved her part, but I think I'm just dumb or something because I can't get it.  :derp: I don't understand what it means so if you do, please tell me.  :confused: (My guess: Twilight is awesome and Rainbow Dash is complimenting herself on giving Twilight the best things she has? I don't know...)

 

Or is Rainbow Dash just supposed to have weird, recurring season 5 moments like that animation error from the first part of "The Cutie Map"?   B)

 

I love when Pinkie said that XD everyone looked at her like wtf Pinkie that's not a good memory! 

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I thought this was a great episode. It took watching it one or two times, but it was an emotional episode with good humor, no character flanderization, and Spike had a good role. Yay, Spike!

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